


The Life and Times of a Frozen Soldier

by nowhere_dawn_death_phan



Category: Torchwood
Genre: And I’ve been having thoughts, Character study(?), F/M, I just like tommy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:00:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28135830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nowhere_dawn_death_phan/pseuds/nowhere_dawn_death_phan
Summary: It was 1934 before Tommy started to suspect that there might be something up with Jack.An overview of the life of Tommy Brockless during his time as an unofficial member of the Torchwood Institute.
Relationships: Tommy Brockless & Jack Harkness, Toshiko Sato/Tommy Brockless
Kudos: 13





	The Life and Times of a Frozen Soldier

It was 1934 before Tommy started to suspect that there might be something up with Jack. It wasn’t the lack of ageing that tipped him off in the end, though it probably would have been if Torchwood agents typically survived long enough to age. As it was, Tommy struggled to process the fact that every day was equal to another year passing without trying to work out how old that would make Jack. No, what it ended up being was the fact that Tommy could count on one hand the number of times he’d see a particular agent before they disappeared. Died. Apart from Jack. Jack was there every year, without fail. The rest of the team could have changed twice or even three times over but Jack would still be there.  
It was 1953 before Tommy plucked up the courage to ask him about it. He was immortal, apparently. Ageless, unkillable. A little like Tommy himself, Jack had said with a smile before sending him back to the medical agent, Tommy couldn’t remember his name. He’d only met him the once, but he didn’t like him.   
It hadn’t seemed quite so bad after that.  
In 1964, Tommy had hesitantly asked if Jack would always be a part of Torchwood, and Jack had replied that it wasn’t like he had anywhere else to go. That had comforted Tommy a little. The idea of being left completely alone with people that he’d only known for a couple of days at most seemed terrifying to him, but the knowledge that Jack would always be there made it a little easier. And he was. It wasn’t like Tommy ever really knew the other agents enough to mourn them, he’d spent maybe a week with each of them at most, and each day they were a little different. The year that had occurred in between had always changed them, and so Tommy didn’t bother trying to get too close.

He had a few good years, a good team. Jack had sort of faded into the background by then. He made a point to talk to Tommy every day, but he didn’t seem as interested. The twenty first century was fast approaching, and Jack didn’t seem to like that. There was a new team leader, and he was nice. Tommy liked him. His name was Alex, and he’d always been perfectly friendly to him. The others too, though he probably wouldn’t be able to tell you their names off the top of his head. There were too many names to remember, so many people over so many decades, so many names, so many faces.  
It was a bitter shock when he woke up on June 20th in the year 2000 and Jack Harkness was the only one he recognised. It was rare to have the entire team wiped out in one year, he’d maybe only seen it twice since joining Torchwood, and he didn’t dare ask Jack what had happened to the others.   
The team that followed them were okay, he supposed. Friendly enough, though none of them lasted very long. That was how it tended to be though. You’d get a team that lasted exactly as they were for a few years and then you’d go through maybe eight people in the next two. Jack was in charge again, so that was nice too, another reassurance that he planned on sticking around.  
He got used to seeing Suzie after the third day. They didn’t have much in the way of real conversation, didn’t always get a chance once Tosh joined, but she’d always wave, smile, offer him a cup of tea. Waking up to Owen’s face for the first time had been something of a surprise, but he was one of the nicest medics Tommy had had dealings with in almost a century - and he’d dealt with plenty over the years. He wasn’t quite sure what he was supposed to make of Ianto, he barely even saw him. He maybe spoke a sentence to him the first day he was there, and even then it was only to comment that he might need a coat if he was planning on going out. He knew better than to ask where Suzie was when he met Gwen, he just swallowed down that tiny bit of guilt and carried on. He always felt guilty that he hadn’t tried to talk to them more, though he knew that wasn’t sensible. He only got one day a year, he did the best that he could.

Jack was a reassuring constant, this anchor in a world where he had nothing and nobody. Everything was always changing, far quicker than he could keep up with it. People and events, names and faces. But he always knew Jack would be there. Alex might not be, or Suzie or Owen or anybody else, but Jack would be. He could always trust Jack to be by his side.  
And that was why it hurt so much when Jack was the one who told him that he had to go back. That this was what they’d been saving him for.   
Tommy wasn’t stupid, he knew that it would happen eventually. He just thought he’d have a little more time, one more day, maybe. And the way that Jack had spoken to him, too used to that title of Captain he’d claimed for himself, it had made Tommy angry. Who was Jack to talk to him like that, to treat him like that? All those days, those years, and Jack could still shake him off like he was nothing but a child. He was just like the others, the generals that he’d been so glad to leave behind. He’d looked up to Jack, thought that he was better than that, thought that maybe he’d cared. It had always seemed like he’d cared, that was why Tommy had trusted him. But he’d lied, just like the rest of them. He’d lied and Tommy had never even noticed, because he’d so badly wanted it to be the truth. 

He’d been glad he had Tosh with him. If only one of them could go with him, and if only for a while, he wanted it to be her. Out of all of the people from all of the teams, he was glad it was her who took him back. He’d been scared when everything had stopped making sense, when he was lost and alone in 1918 again. But she’d still been there. He hadn’t recognised her, not really, but he’d known that she felt safe. He’d known that he could trust her. She’d called him her brave handsome hero, told him to use the key. And he had. 

And the world had fallen away.


End file.
